️🇸🇾🇯🇴 Sanaa: Syria and Jordan signed an agreement to strengthen railway ties, including the restoration of the historic Hejaz railway. The Syrian Minister of Transportation, Yarov Bader, and his Jordanian counterpart, Nidal Katamine, signed the Memorandum of Understanding at the Tishrin Palace in Damascus. About 400 km of the Hejaz line require repairs.
The agreement covers studies for a Damascus-Amman railway, passenger and freight services, and heritage rail tourism. It was signed during the Syria-Jordan Supreme Coordination Council, headed by Foreign Ministers Asa'ad al-Shaibani and Ayman Safadi.
About 63% of Syria's national railway network is unusable due to neglect and civil war damage, with rehabilitation estimated to cost $5.5 billion.